Fun in the Sun
by DreamWvr73
Summary: MacGyver, Gillian and Pete are in Sante Fe for the archaeological dig...


Gillian MacKenzie pulled the tent flap aside and walked out of it. The sun was beginning to set and the southwestern sky was alive with many colors. There were a few clouds above and they looked as though they were on fire, drowning in an endless sea of bright orange and red. Gillian looked around, there was nothing but the desert. It fanned out in four different directions and seemed endless. The wind began to blow, kicking up sharp stinging sand. It was a reminder that the desert was beautiful yet it demanded respect. She walked around, making her way around the mesquite bushes and cactus, grateful for her very thick hiking boots. She climbed up a small hill and looked at the tent city that had been set up for this dig. There were only about a dozen and half people, most of them were Gillian's staff and a few others, including MacGyver and Pete. They had arrived early in the afternoon and had spent the next few hours setting everything up. The little tent city was a fairly modern one, there was a shower, a kitchen and a few generators for power. They were located about 30 miles outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, it was 20 minutes by Jeep to the city.  Gillian always liked to be close to a city, it made her feel better; one never knew when trouble might rear its ugly head.

Gillian returned to her tent, she bent over and stepped through the flap, it was a pretty big. The beige tent had the basic A shape, it had a simple set up, a queen size air mattress was a few feet away from the flap on one side, a little work area with a desk and a few pieces of equipment one the other. There was a pole in the center that had electrical outlets; the top of the room had a small table that was set up with a CB in case they needed to radio someone. 

"Having fun?"

MacGyver was stretched out on the air mattress, wearing nothing but a pair of sweats. The desert had a tendency to get rather cool when night came. He was reading a book about the Southwest and desert survival.

"As a matter of fact, yes. You should see this sunset, it's gorgeous."

He put the book down on his bare chest. "I saw it. You know you really shouldn't be out roaming around by yourself, a coyote might find you."

Gillian was dressed in a pink tank top and a pair of khaki shorts. She had a tan utility vest over her tank top and she unzipped it and took it off.  "A coyote _did find me." She gave him a wicked grin and watched as his eyes grew wide; he set his book aside and got up. He had a playful look on his face and a wicked gleam in his eyes and she knew she was in trouble. _

"Um, that is...I mean…" She shot a quick glance towards the flap and made a break for it. MacGyver was standing closer to it and he grabbed her around the waist. 

"Coyote huh? Is that what you think I am?"

He was swinging her by her waist and Gillian was laughing. "Or maybe wolf would be a better word."

MacGyver swung her up into his arms and carried her over to the queen size air mattress; it was on a wooden frame that lifted it the same height off of the ground as a normal bed. He tossed her on it and she bounced once.

"Hey don't pop this; if you do we won't have anywhere to sleep."

He flopped down beside her and rolled over onto his side. "There are _many ways to pop an air mattress."_

Gillian shook her head slowly and sat up. "Mac, your ribs, remember?"

MacGyver got on his knees and turned, showing her his right side. "See, the bruises are pretty much gone, I haven't worn tape or an ace bandage in two weeks. I think they are healed."

She reached out and touched a fading bruise. "I know that but-"

"Are you afraid?"

Gillian shook her head. "No Mac, it's just that we aren't _exactly alone here, we are surrounded by people. I mean, Pete is in the next tent."_

"I'll risk it." He smiled at her and got down on all fours; he closed his eyes and kissed her, leaning her back with his body as he did so and stretching out on top of her. 

_"Mac?__ Gillian? It's Pete."_

That broke their kiss and Mac looked back at the flap before looking down at her. "Maybe you're right; there are too many people around."

Gillian sighed and touched his face. "I know, you better answer Pete."

Mac sat up and grabbed his t-shirt. It was hanging on the frame and he shrugged it on. "Yeah Pete."

_"Can I come in?"_

Gillian scooted to the edge of the air mattress. "Sure Pete come on in."

The flap moved aside and Pete stepped in. He saw his two friends were on the air mattress. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

The couple looked at each other and Gillian shook her head. "No, we were just relaxing."

Mac picked up his book. "And doing a little reading."

Pete was dressed in jeans and a beige windbreaker, Gillian smiled. "Wow Pete I have never seen you dressed so casual, I'm used to seeing you in a suit."

"I know believe me it's weird not wearing one but I told myself I was going to go completely casual and enjoy myself." Pete unzipped his jacket and showed her his white t-shirt. "See?"

MacGyver widened his eyes and his mouth dropped open. "A t-shirt? You Pete?" He put his hand to his chest in a dramatic fashion and collapsed back on the air mattress.

Gillian covered her mouth and snickered, Pete narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Very funny."

"Don't tease him Mac; I say he's earned a break."

"Thank you Gillian, and you are right, I _have earned a little vacation."_

MacGyver sat up. "Pete you are the only person I know that would take a vacation at an archaeological dig."

"Why not? I've never been to the Southwest before and I think it's beautiful."

Gillian nodded. "So do I."

Pete clapped his hands together. "I also stopped by to tell you that dinner is ready, shall we?"

"Let me get my shoes on, so what's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, salad, and chocolate pudding."

Mac got off of the air mattress and went to go find his boots. They were on top of the trunk that had their clothes; everything had to be high up because of scorpions and snakes. He found them and his socks were tucked into them. "Why don't you two go ahead, I'll be along in a second."

Pete bowed a little and offered Gillian his arm. "Shall we?"

Gillian smiled and accepted it. "I would be delighted to; my you are _such a gentleman."_

"Thank you, this way dear Lady." He lifted the tent flap and they both stepped through it.

MacGyver watched them leave and shook his head.

There were wooden tables set up outside and the threesome came out of the mess tent carrying their trays, they chose a table and sat down. There were Tiki torches that surrounded the area, giving off light and a little bit of heat to keep the diners warm.

Pete unwrapped his silverware. He was sitting next to MacGyver, both men were facing Gillian. "So Gillian why exactly did you choose this spot?"

Gillian picked up her fork. "This area is part of the Santa Fe Trail. This was Indian land, it belonged to the Osage."

MacGyver had some spaghetti sauce on his mouth and he wiped it off with his napkin. "It goes to Missouri, right?"

"Right, it was used pretty heavily until the Santa Fe Railroad was completed in 1872, from that time until this it's been abandoned so I think we should find a lot of interesting things."

Pete opened his soda and took a sip. "I know I can't wait."

Gillian cut into a large meatball. "Now Pete I don't want you to think that this is going to be some exciting thing. It takes patience, determination, knee pads and very small tools. Don't forget that we are in the middle of the desert and its summertime, it's going to be hot, dusty work."

MacGyver finished his spaghetti and was working on his salad. "I wouldn't worry about Pete Gillian, he's tough."

Gillian nodded. "Oh I know he is, but so is the desert."

Pete smiled. "Gillian, this is your baby. You are the Boss, you are in charge of this dig, I'm here as a volunteer, I don't want any special treatment."

Pete was covered with dirt as he burst through the Boss's tent. Mac and Gillian were cleaning artifacts and Gillian was studying them closely under a magnifying glass. She lifted her head and smiled.

"Hey Pete."

"Hi Pete, how's it going?"

The Director of Operations was hot, sweaty and dusty, he was frowning. "Fine, just fine."

Gillian could tell that he wasn't having a lot of fun but she gave him credit for not saying anything. She got up from her chair and opened a large cooler that was sitting on the floor beside her desk. She took out a bottle of ice cold water and a metal bowl. The bowl contained wet washcloths, she picked one up and rung it out.

"Why don't you take a break Pete?"

She handed him the washcloth and the cold water. He sat down on a nearby chair and took a big chug of the water, he used the washcloth to clean off his face. "Thanks Gillian that feels a lot better, it's so hot out there."

MacGyver set his small brush down and went over to his friend. He had on a tan t-shirt and blue jeans, there were dusty handprints on his legs. "Pete, can I make a suggestion?"

Pete covered his balding head with a washcloth. "Sure."

"I think you should lose the jeans, shorts would keep you cooler."

Pete scoffed. "MacGyver are you serious? Me wearing shorts?" 

Mac spread his arms, showing his friend what he was wearing. He had on a white t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts with his tennis shoes. "I know it seems silly, but if I can do it so can you, and besides light clothing is ideal for desert activity."

Gillian got another washcloth out of the bowl and put it on the back of her friend's neck. "Mac's right Pete, you have to take precautions out here, the sun is unmerciful."

Pete looked at both of them. "And speaking of desert activities, why aren't the two of you out there?"

"We were out there; we just came in here a little while ago to check out some of the things that had already been found."

MacGyver nodded. "It's true we were, we have already cleaned up some really nice pottery pieces."

Gillian checked her watch. "We better go back out there Mac; I want to do as much as we can before it gets dark."

The excavation area was divided up into small two feet sections, there was white string used to rope off each section. Gillian was on her knees in her little section; she had a four inch trowel and was going over the dirt very carefully. Everyone had finished for the day and were in their tents resting, it was now late afternoon. MacGyver and Pete came out of Gillian's tent and saw the young woman was still at it.

"I have to hand it to her MacGyver; she knows what she's doing."

"Yeah she does."

Pete was watching her. "She just won't quit will she?"

Mac sighed and looked at his watch. "She's been there for the past three hours straight; I think I better put her excavating to an end for the day."

Pete exhaled loudly, he had worked very hard. "Good idea, you go do that. I think I'm going to go take a shower and take it easy."

MacGyver slapped his friend on the back. "You did good today Pete, I'm proud of you."

Pete smiled. "Thanks, it _is work but I'm starting to have fun, see you at dinner." He walked away and MacGyver made his way over to where Gillian was. She was using a brush to uncover another piece of pottery._

"Gillian I think its quitting time." He crouched down and looked at her.

She carefully brushed the dirt off of the pottery shard and picked it up. "What time is it?"

"It's 4 30, come on now you have been doing this since 1 30, I think its time to stop for the day."

Gillian carefully put the shard in her basket. "Okay I'm done." She dusted off her hands and stood up, she picked up her basket. "Check out all this stuff I found."

Mac stood up and took the basket from her. "We will, we'll go over it but not until you've had a chance to relax a little, okay?"

Gillian could that he was concerned for her and she smiled. "Okay."

Mac got a good look at her face; it was dusty and was already starting to turn brown from the sun. "You're already getting a tan."

"It goes with the territory, ever see a pale archaeologist?"

MacGyver laughed. "No I can't say that I have."

"Exactly, even Indiana Jones had a tan."

Gillian put her arm around his waist as they walked. "Did you have fun today?"

"Yeah, I did, even Pete said he is starting to enjoy himself."

They stepped into the tent and Gillian unzipped her vest and put it on over a chair. She untied the bandana that was around her neck and draped it on the arm of the chair. "I think I'll go take a shower."

"Mind if I join you?"

"I wish you could, but we have no privacy."

"Oh I wouldn't say that."

Gillian heard him talking to her from the far side of the tent; she turned around and saw he was standing next to a big blue box that was a few feet away from the CB table.  "What is that?"

"Come over here and I'll show you."

She walked over there and he flung back the blue tarp to reveal a shower. "How did you do that?"

"Simple, see the frame is made out of some leftover plastic PVC pipe that your friend Kevin had left from the frame he built for the mess tent. There were some extra tarps so I used them to enclose it to keep the water from splashing everywhere."

"Yeah but won't the water flood our tent?"

"Nope, look." He crouched down and showed the bottom of the shower. "You stand on a small emergency raft, there is another piece of PVC pipe that is attached to the drain on the bottom of the boat. The pipe leads outside and into a small ditch." She saw the small trench he had dug and the white PVC pipe was in it. Gillian looked at the shower; it was hooked up with hoses, one for hot, one for cold. "It's hooked up to the water truck?"

"Right, the pipe and the head are spare parts from the showers, Bob said they were broken but he was wrong, I fixed the leaky pipe with duct tape and the head was just clogged."

"I don't believe this, you made a shower. When did you do this?"

Mac stood up. "About an hour ago."

"Where did you get the emergency raft?"

"I brought it along."

Gillian creased her brow. "Why?"

MacGyver shrugged his shoulders. "You never know when one might come in handy."

He walked around her, he put his hands on her shoulders and glided his fingers down her arms. She was wearing a white tank top and he was kissing the back of her neck. "So do you want to try it out?"

Gillian's heart was racing. "If you want to." She swallowed hard, she could feel her knees get a little shaky.

"You know I want to." MacGyver brought his hands back up and put them on her shoulders, he could feel her trembling. "Gillian, are you okay?" He turned her around to face him.

She nodded her head. "I'm fine."

He looked at her sideways, both of his eyebrows going up. "Then why are you shaking?"

Gillian swallowed hard again. "No reason."

"Are you nervous?"

She couldn't lie to him; it was obvious that she was. "Yeah."

He gave her a small smile. "Don't you want to wash my back?"

That made her laugh; breaking some of the nervousness she was feeling. "You know I do."

"Then what's wrong?"

"It's just that." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's been a long time Mac."

"We can just take a shower and nothing else."

Gillian was looking into his dark eyes; she didn't want to _just take a shower. "I __want to do more than just shower but at the same time I'm afraid."_

"What are you afraid of?"

She turned and walked away from him. "I don't know, I wish I knew."

"You know Gillian, deep down you do."

Her back was turned to him and she hung her head. He walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "You're afraid I'll leave you the way Michael did, aren't you?"

Gillian nodded her head slowly. "I'm sorry Mac, I know you are nothing like Michael but sometimes I can't help but remember everything he said and did and I get so scared that you are going to wake up one day beside me and wonder what you're doing there."

Mac let go of her shoulders and walked over to Gillian's desk. He picked up his silver roll of duct tape. He went over to the tent flap and started tying it closed. Gillian turned around and was watching him. 

"What are you doing?"

There were 6 ties doing down the flap and he tied every single one of them closed. He got the duct tape and starting at the top of the flap; he brought a long silver strip all the way down to the ground and cut it. He stood up and started cutting long strips; he was putting them crisscross over the flap. He made the last silver X on the bottom of the flap; he stood up and tossed his duct tape aside.

"Now we have privacy."

Gillian didn't know what to do. She wanted so much to be with him, but her fear was holding her back. The ghost of Michael had a tight grip on her and was not letting go. MacGyver saw her hesitation; he realized that if he didn't do something he would be competing with the ghost of Michael Pershing forever. MacGyver got frustrated, he didn't want to be in anyone's shadow. He turned his back on her for a moment. A decision suddenly was thrust upon him. He was in love with Gillian, there was absolutely no doubt about that. It had not been an easy decision to open his heart and let her in and now he was faced with another, fight or flight.

"Mac?"

He turned back around and faced her; he knew the answer was in her eyes. His head was down; he lifted it and looked into them.

MacGyver was wearing a white t-shirt; it was slightly dusty but still fairly bright. He crossed his arms, his fingers curling around the bottom of his t-shirt. He lifted it over his head and dropped it. 

Gillian was watching him, she didn't understand what he was doing. She grew even more confused when he picked up her left hand and placed it in the center of his chest.

"I gave this to you, and I didn't ask for yours in return because I thought I had it. Obviously I don't, so I'm asking for it now. When we were in London, you asked me to give us a chance. Now I'm asking you to give _me that chance. All I want to do is love you."_

Gillian could feel his heart thumping, pounding strongly against the palm of her hand. She took it away from his chest and his face fell. He thought that she wasn't going to give him his chance. She took one step closer to him and raised her hands; she brought them up to his face. Both of her hands started together at his forehead, her slim fingers moving gently as they came down his forehead, his temple and his cheekbones. They glided down his cheeks and her hands met once again on his lips, both hands were moving together down his chin and his neck to his collarbone. They parted once more and her fingertips traced across his collarbone then slowly moved down his chest. They glided down his pecs, over his stomach and stopping at the waistband of his shorts. She looked up at him and his face was impassive, she brought her hands back up again and put them both on top of his shoulders. Her hands glided down his arms, all the way down to the tips of his fingers. 

Gillian picked up both of his hands and gently kissed them, she put them back down at his sides. She put two fingers under his chin and lifted it a little in the air; she took one more step closer and leaned forward. She brushed her lips against the left side of his neck and kissed the delicate skin. She made her way around his neck and all the way up to his jaw line and back again. She heard him sigh and she stopped what she was doing. She stood back and picked up both of his hands. 

Mac opened his eyes and watched as she put them on either side of her face. She guided them down her face, to her neck. She then took his hands and placed them on her waist, his fingers touching the bottom of her tank top. She gave him a very tiny smile, her lips barely showing it. 

MacGyver lifted her white tank top up over her head and dropped it on the ground; he tilted her head back with his fingers and began kissing her neck. Gillian closed her eyes; the feel of his soft lips against her skin was heady. She reached up and put her hand on the back of his head. He stopped and she brought her head down and looked at him, his eyes were intense. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. MacGyver crouched down and put his arms around her waist and lifted her up, he walked over to the air mattress and gently laid her down upon it.

Gillian opened her eyes. The tent was dim, the sun was setting and it had to be close to dinnertime. She looked beside her; she could barely see MacGyver's form under the sheet. He was lying on his stomach; one arm tucked under his pillow, the other was across her neck. His face was turned towards her and he appeared to be asleep. Gillian moved and suddenly that arm pulled her closer to him.

"Where are you going?"

Gillian saw that his eyes were now open; she shook her head and smiled. "Nowhere."

"Good."

He pulled her up against him and put his head on her chest. Gillian kissed the top of his head and stroked his hair. "Mac?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you hear my heart?"

"Yeah, can feel it too."

"It's yours now."

Mac lifted his head and gave her a small smile. "I know." He kissed her gently. "What time is it?"

"Probably around 7, are you hungry?"

He laid flat on his back and yawned. "Starving."

Gillian laughed. "I can't imagine why."

MacGyver looked at her and started to laugh. "I think I'm ready for that shower now."

"I think we _both are ready for that shower now."_

Gillian rolled over and saw Mac's t-shirt on the floor. She walked over to it and picked it up and slipped it on, she went over to the center pole and flipped the switch. The light bulbs that were strung all over came on and Mac covered his eyes; the lights were bright.

"Come on get up, Pete is going to be here soon."

She came back over to the bed and sat down on it; Mac's eyes adjusted to the light and saw that she had his t-shirt on.

"Hey that's _my t-shirt."_

Gillian got on all fours; she leaned forward and kissed him. "You were amply compensated for it."

MacGyver smiled widely. "Yeah I was." He reached out and grabbed the t-shirt and started to pull her towards him. "But if you want to compensate me some more for it that is fine."

Gillian laughed and touched the hand that was pulling her. "We can't, Pete will be here soon to take us to dinner."

"We can eat in."

She was laughing harder as he pulled her on top of him, he started kissing her neck. "Mac, we have no time for this now, but there is always later."

He stopped kissing her neck and looked at her. "Later?"

She nodded. "Yes, later, the night is very young."

He thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Okay."

Gillian kissed him and got up. She walked over to the far side of the tent and moved the blue tarp aside. She turned on the shower and started adjusting the temperature. Mac got up and wrapped the white sheet around his waist, he went over to the tent flap and began peeling off all the duct tape

"Mac?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you hand me my shampoo out of the trunk and a towel?"

He crumbled up the last of the tape and threw it in the waste basket that was near the work area. He walked over to the trunk and opened it. The big black trunk had six drawers; he opened the one that contained all of their supplies, soap, shampoo, razors, shaving cream, and green towels. He picked up a bar of soap, the shampoo bottle and tossed the towel on top of the CB table. Mac pulled back the tarp and stuck his head in. "So how does it work?"

Gillian saw him and for a split second she thought of covering herself but it quickly faded, she wiped the water off of her face and slung her hair back. "Good."

"I brought you the shampoo and some soap."

Mac handed them to her but instead she grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the shower. "Hey the sheet!"

She snatched it from around him and wrung out the parts of it that had gotten wet and draped it over the top of the shower. "Happy? Besides there are more in the supply tent." 

Gillian put her arms around his neck and kissed him. She dragged him under the spray and he wet his hair and shook the water from his face. "This thing works good."

Gillian laughed and took the bar of soap from him. "Is that offer still open for me to wash your back?"

"Sure." MacGyver turned around, offering her his back for washing.

Gillian soaped up her hands; she started at the top of his shoulders and slowly moved down. "You have a very nice back." She was enjoying herself; she could feel the strong muscles that lay just below the surface of his skin. She was done washing it and put her arms around his waist, laying her cheek against his back. 

MacGyver touched the hands that were encircling his waist. "Are you finished?"

"Washing yes, holding no."

"You can hold me all you want after dinner."

Gillian let go of him and he turned around. "Promise?"

"Promise."

Gillian picked up the bottle of the shampoo from the bottom of the life raft where Mac had put it and began to wash her hair.

Everyone was outside eating their dinner; the menu for this evening was pork chops, rice pilaf, broccoli and vanilla pudding for dessert. MacGyver, Gillian and Pete were all sitting together again. Gillian looked around, she noticed that everyone had pretty much stopped eating and were just socializing.

"Excuse me Gentlemen."

MacGyver watched her get up. "Where are you going?"

"I have to address the crowd."

Gillian walked over to an empty table and climbed on top of it, she waved her arms in the air.

"Everyone can I have your attention please?"

All eyes were suddenly on the young woman; she smiled at all of them and put her arms down.

"Hi."

MacGyver shook his head. "What a ham."

Gillian heard him and narrowed her eyes at him. "Today was our first day and I think it was a good one, but today was also an eye-opener. Now as you all found out, we are in a desert, and not just any desert. The Southwest desert, one of the harshest on this planet; as I am sure you all found out when the temperature started to climb earlier today. With that in mind, your coach here has decided to change some rules to the game. Now I know that you probably aren't going to be thrilled with at least one of them but believe me I only have your best interests at heart. First new rule is, breakfast is now going to be from 5-6 am." The crowd grumbled and Gillian raised her arms. "Now I know you are not happy about this but I have my reasons."

"What are your reasons Gillian?"

She looked at her friend Tina, a young red haired woman with lots of freckles and bright green eyes. "I was just getting to that Tina. My reason is I want to start the excavation at 6, not 8. The sun will barely be up by then and it will be nice and cool. Another new rule is that we are going to excavate this place in shifts. We start at 6, and we work until 9. I have that huge cooler you all saw today, it is well stocked with water, ice and wet washcloths. At 9, we stop, get a nice cold bottle of water and a washcloth, you spend the next thirty minutes in the shade, with a nice cool drink and just relax. The work starts up at again at 930 and we work until 12 30. From 1230 until 2 o'clock is lunch, this hour and half will give you time to eat, take a shower, or a nap or whatever you have to do to R & V."

Pete leaned close to MacGyver. "What's R &V?"

Gillian heard him and lifted her head. "Rest and vegetation, when we start up again 2. I want to work for three hours, during this shift there are no set breaks, you can take one whenever you want, how many you want. Once 5 o'clock comes, we are done; your obligation to dig for me is through. Now some of you probably won't want to take breaks, maybe the heat doesn't bother you, and if that is true then I only ask one small favor of you, take at least a few minutes to have a drink of water. I want you all to understand something; once 5 comes you are done. But if you want to keep going and take advantage of the fact that the sun is starting to ease down, that's fine, you are perfectly free to do that. I want you all to remember that we are in a harsh environment; the sun is unforgiving and unmerciful here. I want you all to take care of yourselves and each other. You are my staff and my friends and no matter how much this place excites me or how much bounty it gives us I will _not sacrifice any of you for it. If you don't feel good and are tired, then stop, just come tell me… Gillian I've had enough for the day… That's fine, I promise you I won't be mad, hurt, or disappointed. I __refuse to be a slave driver, I want you all to be cautious and remember where we are.  One more thing, if you think I am doing something wrong or you know of a way it could be done better, don't be shy, this is not a dictatorship." She jumped down from the table. "I want you all to take care of yourselves, get plenty of rest, drink plenty of water and keep cool as best as you can, okay? Any questions?"_

There were none and Gillian clapped her hands together. "All right then, that's all I have to say, get plenty of rest and I'll see you at 5 00, have a good night."

Gillian sat back down at the table and Pete nodded his head, he was very impressed. "Nice speech, I think your new system will work out."

Gillian smiled. "Thanks, I hope it does. I was telling the truth, I don't want anyone to become a victim of the sun."

MacGyver saw that she was not completely comfortable in her leader role; he reached out and touched her hand. "You're doing good Gillian, okay? I don't think there could be a better person to lead this dig."

She smiled and squeezed his hand, his reassurance made her feel better. "I appreciate that Mac, I really do."

The day started just has Gillian said it would, bright and early at 5 am. The couple emerged from their tent and everyone ate and the dig was under way by 6 am. The first break came at 9, by 9 30 everyone was back to work and more and more artifacts were uncovered, most of them seemed to be from the Osage tribe. Most of the artifacts were pottery pieces, arrowheads, and tools. Gillian and MacGyver had stopped their digging and were looking at the pieces that were being uncovered; some of them were truly remarkable finds. Now it was 12 30 and Gillian was in her tent carefully brushing away years of sand and picking off caked on mud from a few weapons that had been found. The tent flap was pulled back and MacGyver came in. He was wearing light gray shorts and a matching gray muscle shirt, he had a red bandana tied around his neck. He was dusty and brown from the sun and was carrying two lunch trays.

"Lunch time! All work must stop."

"In a minute." 

"No, now, come on Gillian you need to take a break. Don't you think you should be following your own advice about taking care of yourself?"

Gillian stopped what she was doing and got up from her desk. "All right all right, what's for lunch?"

MacGyver looked down at the contents of the tray. "Well it looks like quiche, a small salad and fruit cocktail."

She took one of the trays from him. "Yeah that's what it looks like."

MacGyver handed her his tray and got the card table from the other side of the tent. He set it next to her desk and pulled the two chairs from the work area over to it. "Have a seat."

Gillian sat down. "You forgot something to drink."

He pulled two bottles of water from his back pockets. "No I didn't." He handed one to her, it was dripping with freezing cold water. 

"You carried these in your back pockets? So now you have a frozen wet behind is that it?"

"It was a sacrifice I had to make for you." Mac sat down in the chair and he gasped a little as his wet pockets pressed against him. Gillian tried so hard not to laugh, but she just couldn't help it she burst out laughing. "Aye Mac, you truly are nuts did you know that?"

He shrugged his shoulders at her. "Maybe."

"No maybes about it." She looked at his face and saw that it was getting tan just like hers. "Someone I know is also getting brown from the sun."

MacGyver looked at his arms. "Yeah I guess I am; it's okay though, I'm having a lot of fun."

Gillian smiled. "Really? You are?"

"Yeah I really am, and believe it or not so is Pete. Have you seen him work out there? He's a terror in khaki shorts!" MacGyver tried his lunch, it wasn't too bad. "So what is it that you were cleaning over there?"

"A tomahawk head and a few arrowheads that Tina found."

Gillian finished her lunch and opened her water, she had a sip and looked at her watch, it was 12 45. "I think I'm going to lay down, care to join me?"

Mac finished his lunch and pushed his tray aside. "Yeah, I could use a rest."

They both go up from the table and Gillian sat down on the edge of the air mattress and untied her boots; she slipped them and her socks off and laid back on the bed. MacGyver did the same and stretched out beside her.

"Gillian are you okay? You seem quiet."

"I don't know, I have this terrible feeling of dread."

"When did this start?"

"This morning, I woke up with it."

"Do you think it's a warning?"

"I don't know, we're just going to have to wait and see."

"Come over here and I'll try and make you feel better."

Gillian rolled over and put her head against Mac's chest, he began to rub her back. "That does make me feel better; it also makes me feel something else."

"We have no time for something else."

"I know, for now I'll have to settle for sleep."

"Me too."

The couple closed their eyes and went to sleep.

By the time the sun set, the wind had begun to blow, this presented a problem. In the desert there is no such thing as a gentle wind. The desert winds could kick up enough sand to make the whole world turn brown and dusty. Gillian had gotten every tarp out of the supply tent, hammers and nails, the excavation areas were covered, the tarps were nailed into the ground. She advised that everyone eat inside their tents, and make sure they were securely tied to the ground. 

It was after 8 when the wind picked up and began to blow even harder, the smell of dust was thick in the air. She was sitting on the air mattress, listening to the sand being thrown against the walls of her tent, it sounded like handfuls of seed beads when they are dropped on cement. 

MacGyver was outside checking the tent pegs; he wanted to make sure they were not going to go anywhere. The tent flap was thrown back and in her came, he turned around and began to tie the flap closed. He also got his duct tape and cut a long strip that he put all the way down it, an extra precaution against invading dust.

"How's it look out there?"

MacGyver put his tape down on the work area and shook out a little. "Like downtown Cairo is blowing through our camp."

"Is everyone safe and in their tents?"

He nodded and wiped his hand down his face, it felt gritty. "Yeah, everyone in their tents, all pegs secure, the site has been covered. We should be all right, and hopefully this will all be over in the morning."

She patted the area next to her and he shook his head. "Let me shower off first, I feel like I have sand in every crevice of my body."

He walked over to the blue box and took off his gray muscle shirt, he turned around and saw how quiet she was, he knew the reason. "It's going to be fine Gillian; nobody is going to blow away."

"You sure about that?"

"Positive, everyone is fine, and the site has been covered."

That made her smile and she nodded. "All right, I believe you."

"Good." He stuck his hand in the tarp and started the shower.

The couple was snuggled up on their air mattress listening to the wind blow. The temperature had dropped and they had to break out a couple of blankets.

"I'm glad I gave everyone two blankets the first day we arrived. I warned them that sometimes the temperature at night could really drop."

She pulled them up higher around her neck and pressed closer to MacGyver. They were lying face to face and he hugged her to him. "I know amazing isn't it? This place can get so hot you can fry an egg on you your head but once that sun goes down it becomes the North Pole."

"I just hope this little sandstorm is over by morning, I would hate to have to go home early because of the wind."

"I'm sure it will be."

Gillian sighed and closed her eyes; her head was lying in the area between Mac's shoulder and his neck. 

"Why did you sigh like that?"

"I like being this close to you; it makes me feel safe and secure." She lifted her head and began to kiss that area. "It also gives me access to a very delicate part of your body."

MacGyver chuckled and his laughter quickly turned to a sigh. "So I see, do you have any idea what that does to me?"

"Does it make you putty in my hands?"

"Something like that, yeah."

"Good." She continued doing it.  
"Gillian, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She stopped her kissing and lifted her head to look at him.

"You know everyone knows about us, right?"

Gillian nodded. "Yeah I know, and I really don't care. I'm not going to hide the fact I am with you, I'm not ashamed of it."

Mac gave her a small smile. "Neither am I, but someone asked me something today."

"Uh oh, who and what?"

He licked his lips and pressed them together. "It was Chris; he asked me what did it feel like to share my tent with a kid."

Gillian shook her head and started to laugh. "Chris called _me a kid?"_

"Yeah he did, I asked him what he meant by that, because I don't think you are a kid."

"No I'm not; a kid is a 19 year old, or a 21 year old."

"He said that with our age difference you _are a kid."_

Gillian started to laugh. "Chris is a dinosaur! To him anyone younger than 50 is a kid." 

"He's right Gillian, there is an age difference."

"Right, 11 years." She leaned down and touched his face. "I don't care if there is a hundred years between us Mac. I would still love you, it doesn't bother me in the slightest." She kissed his lips a couple of times and went back to work on his neck. "Besides, you don't act your age."

"I don't?"

"Nope, you seem more like a teenager."

"In what way?"

Gillian stopped kissing his neck and whispered something in his ear; a huge smile broke out on his face. "Oh." He put his arms around her and rolled them over so now he was the one on top. "Are you sure about that?"

She gave him a nod. "But if you want to prove it…"  
Mac kissed her long and deep. "I accept your challenge."

It was the middle of the night and MacGyver and Gillian had long since fallen asleep. There was a huge crashing noise that started the couple awake.

"What was that?"

"I don't know but we better find out." MacGyver got up, he had on a pair of sweats and he walked over to their trunk and got out a t-shirt.

_"MacGyver?__ Gillian?"_

Gillian was wearing a nightgown, she got up and took off the duct tape and started untying the flap. "Hold on Pete." She untied the last flap and stepped back as he came in. He saw her nightgown and looked embarrassed. Gillian shook her head. "Pete its okay, it's just a nightgown." He nodded and saw his friend with a t-shirt in his hand and was putting it on.

"Any idea what that noise was Pete?"

Pete shook his head. "No, but it woke everyone up. It sounded like it came from the area we parked the vans in."

Gillian picked up the clothes she had on. She put them on over her nightgown then took her nightgown off; she started putting her boots on. "I hope nothing happened to them."

The threesome emerged from the tent; everyone was awake and standing outside it. "Just calm down everyone, we're going to go see what that was." 

MacGyver had three flashlights; he gave one to Gillian and Pete. "Everybody just stay here, we'll be right back." 

They started walking down the platform that the tent city was built on; the vans they had brought them with were a little ways down the hill. The wind had stopped blowing and everything was calm. They got to the bottom of the hill and the threesome saw something that made them all gasp. One of their vans had been completely vandalized; the windows had been broken out, along with the front and back windshields. A message had been spray painted on the side in white letters.

TRESPASSERS GO HOME.

Gillian went down the hill and over to it she looked the damage over, along with the broken windows there were a few dents that looked like kick marks. She shined her flashlight down on the ground and looked for any sign of who had done this; there was none that she could see.

"So what do we do now?"

Gillian straightened up. "We use that radio in our tent and call the Sheriff."

Pete looked at her. "Call the Sheriff that's all?"

MacGyver also was crouched down looking for clues. "What else do you think we should do?"

"Leave, you read the warning, there could be more trouble if we don't."

Gillian walked over to her friend. "That's all I'm going to do. I didn't spend three months planning just to have some local hoodlums scare me away. We came out here to do a job and that's exactly what we are going to do." She started back up the hill,.

MacGyver watched her go, he smiled. That was one of the things he loved about her, she was a fighter.

The Sheriff of Santa Fe was a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair. By the time he arrived it was almost 2 in the morning. Gillian had reassured everyone about him coming and had sent them all back to bed. The only ones awake now was Pete, Gillian and MacGyver, they were telling the Sheriff about the events of the evening leading up to the crashing noise.

"And not one of you heard anything else?"

Gillian and MacGyver were sitting on their air mattress; Pete was sitting at the card table next to it. She rubbed her hands over her face. The lateness of the hour beginning to wear her down. "No I told you, the wind was blowing way too hard."

He had on a shiny black jacket with a giant gold star on the back on it and the initials. SFCSD. "So you didn't see anything, you didn't hear anything so how exactly am I supposed to do something about this?"

MacGyver was also tired and he was getting frustrated. "Sheriff Kent, the warning said for us to go home, that we were trespassers. When we filed the paperwork for this dig we were told the land was abandoned, obviously it isn't. Who lives in this area?"

Kent sighed. "The only people in this area besides you is a small group of Indians. They have a housing community that's about 10 miles from here."

Both of MacGyver's eyebrows went up. "Could they be the ones that vandalized the van?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe, I will look into it and let you know." He started walking towards the flap. "In the meantime I suggest you take the warning seriously."

Gillian was very glad that he was leaving. "I'll take that under advisement Sheriff, good night."

The middle-aged man scowled at her before he ducked under the tent flap. She watched him go and shook her head. "I think Barney Fife would be more helpful then this guy is going to be."

Pete sighed. "Isn't real concerned is he?"

Mac yawned. "Nope, he doesn't seem to care at all."

"Well let's get back to bed, we can grab a few hours of sleep before the sun comes up." 

Pete got up and stretched. "Good idea, good night." He left the tent and Gillian laid back on the bed. "Level with me Mac; do you think we might have trouble from whoever attacked our van?"

He looked down at her and stroked her hair. "I don't know, maybe."

She closed her eyes and yawned. "Come on, let's get some sleep."

MacGyver got up from the air mattress and walked over to the center pole. He hit the switch and the tent was bathed in darkness. He stretched out beside Gillian; she turned towards him and draped an arm across his waist. The night was now quiet and it lulled them to sleep.

The next few days passed without incident. The dig was going along smoothly; the vandalizing of the van seemed to be mostly forgotten. The Sheriff had returned with news that no one in the nearby Indian community knew anything of the van vandalizing and that seemed to satisfy the law man. However it did not satisfy MacGyver or Gillian, and they had come up with something to protect their vans and their camp from outsiders. Mac was sitting at the card table. He had a few things scattered on it and he was attaching some wire to some big 9 volt batteries.

"How's it going?"

Gillian stepped into the tent, it was a little after 5 and the dig was officially over for the day.

"Good, I'm just about done."

"Is that the burglar alarm we talked about last night?"

"Yeah, all we have to do is string this all around the perimeter and it should make enough noise to let us know someone is there that shouldn't be."

"Well you better hurry up and get it done because it's getting dark and it won't be easy to work in the dark."

He attached wire to the last battery. "There, finished." He stood up and picked up his backpack, he started loading all the batteries into it. "I'll just go set these up and in about a half an hour we'll have a burglar alarm for both the camp and the vans."

Gillian yawned and covered her mouth. "Want me to come with you?"

"Nah that's okay I'll be back soon." MacGyver stood in front of her and gave her a kiss on the lips. "You'll be here right?"

"Of course, hurry back, I'll be waiting."

"I will." He zipped up his backpack and ducked under the flap.

Gillian sat straight up, she had laid down and fallen asleep waiting for MacGyver to get back. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 7. She had come in the tent and a little after 5 and Mac left shortly there after. A horrible feeling of dread pressed its cold finger into her heart.

_"Mac?__ Gillian?"_

Gillian got up and pulled back the flap; Pete came in and was smiling. "Ready to go eat?" He saw that she was alone. "Where's MacGyver?"

She touched her hand to her stomach; she got a sharp pain and closed her eyes against it. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?"

Gillian swallowed hard. "He left a little after 5 to go set up our burglar alarms. He was only supposed to be gone half an hour, I feel asleep and woke up and he's not back." She got another pain and squeezed her eyes shut. Pete saw her and touched her arm. "What is it?"

"My stomach, it's hurting."

Pete knew what that meant he took her hand. "Come on, we are going to go see if he is down in the van area."

The couple left the tent and practically ran down to the edge of the platform; they looked down and saw nothing but the vans.

"MacGyver?" Pete was hoping his friend would answer him, but there was nothing. "MacGyver!"

Gillian closed her eyes, her stomach was really bothering her now. 

Sheriff Kent had returned and took down her story. He didn't seem too concerned that MacGyver was gone. He asked her silly questions that did nothing more than upset her. He had taken down a description of what MacGyver was wearing the last time she saw him, a white muscle shirt and blue cotton shorts. He told her that if he heard anything he would be back to let her know. He closed his notebook and left. 

Gillian was sitting on the air mattress, her legs drawn up, she was hugging them.

"_Gillian?_"

Pete called to her from outside the tent and she wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. "Come in."

The stout man came into the tent and saw her. "What did the Sheriff say?"

"Besides don't hold your breath? Nothing."

Pete walked over to the air mattress and sat down beside her; he reached out and touched her hand. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine, I'm fine." She buried her head against her legs; it was very obvious that she wasn't fine. 

"The Sheriff warned me, you warned me, but I didn't listen. I wasn't going to let some hoodlums scare me away, but I'm plenty scared now." Gillian lifted her head and wiped her eyes.

"MacGyver is probably just out there looking around; we don't even know for sure he's been kidnapped."

She shook her head. "I wouldn't be getting pains if he was just lost. The pains are a sign that someone close to me is in danger." She closed her eyes for a moment; she exhaled loudly and turned to look at Pete. "Do you remember my first day at Phoenix?"

Pete nodded his head. "Yes I do."

"I walked into your office and there he was, standing there in those jeans he always wears. I took one look at him and I was a goner." She put her legs down and picked up Mac's pillow, she hugged it to her. "When we were in London, he didn't want to have a relationship with me. He said that I didn't want to get involved with a guy like him. The truth was that I did want to because I knew that underneath all those fronts he puts up was a wonderful guy with a really big heart." The tears were rolling down her cheek and she casually wiped them away. "I asked him to give us a chance and he did. I knew deep down he did want a relationship, he was just afraid because of all of the times he had been hurt." A small smile came to her lips. "Mac can be so sweet, with just little things that he does." Pete was squeezing her hand; Gillian turned and looked at him. "Ever had Mac's Famous Pancakes?" Pete shook his head slowly, she started to cry harder. "They're really good." She covered her hands with her face and started to sob.

 Pete turned towards her and put his arm around her shoulders, he drew her to him. 

"Gillian it's going to be all right, MacGyver is a fighter." Pete could see how pained she was, he knew that Gillian and MacGyver were seeing each other but he hadn't realized until this moment how much she really loved him. 

Gillian had her head against Pete's chest. "Not knowing what is happening to him is the worst part, where he is or if he's even…" She stopped and shook her head, that was one thought she did not want to entertain.

"Gillian, you have to try and stay positive, the Sheriff will find him."

She sat up and wiped her face with her hands again. "I can't just sit here and do nothing. The Sheriff might not give a damn about MacGyver but the both of us do." She turned and looked at him, her eyes wet with tears and filled with pain. "Will you come with me? Back down to the vans?"

"What for?"

"I want to see if there is anything down there, you and I both know that Mac wouldn't have just gone along quietly. He would have put up a fight. We might be able to find a clue."

Pete nodded. "Okay, let's go see what we can find."

Gillian and Pete had taken two flashlights, the sun was beginning to go down and it was quickly getting dark. They went down the hill where the vans were parked and turned on their flashlights. There were 6 vans, and one black Jeep, all of them blue with Phoenix Foundation written on the side in white lettering. Gillian started at one end, Pete at the other; they were shining their lights looking for any sign. The dirt and rocks were crunching underneath Gillian's feet as she swung her flashlight back and forth along the ground. She had looked over where two of the vans were parked; she now was going over the area near the third one. As soon as she went behind it, a feeling stopped her dead in her tracks. As if a giant hand and pressed against her and was holding her in place, an invisible wind began to blow through her and she recognized what she felt immediately. "Mac."

She crouched down and began looking more closely, the ground seemed to be torn up and there were thick grooves leading away from it. "Pete!"

He came rushing over. "Did you find something?"

"Look." She shined her flashlight on the thick marks. "Someone was dragged away."

Pete nodded. "Yeah and there are signs of a scuffle."

Gillian went back over by the van, something was drawing her there. She set her flashlight down and crawled underneath it. She was feeling around with her hands.

"What are you doing?"

"Clue hunting." Her hands touched something cold over by the tire; she grabbed it and crawled back out.

"What did you find?"

She opened her hand and showed him, it was MacGyver's Swiss Army knife. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, seeing what her abilities could pick up from it. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again she was crouched down by the van. She looked down at her hands and realized who they belonged to, they belonged to MacGyver. She had the knife and a battery in her hand; she heard a sound behind her and turned to see 4 men, two of them with shotguns. They all looked to be Indian, they had long black hair and dark skin; they also looked like very angry Indians. One of them had on black sunglasses; he looked to be the one in charge he was standing in front of the others. She swallowed hard and stood up slowly.

"Hi, something I can help you with?"

"We told you to get out of here but you wouldn't listen." He snapped his fingers and the two without shotguns grabbed her and threw her up against the van, she dropped her battery and the knife, the wind knocked out of her. She fell on her knees, trying to catch her breath. They stood her back up and both men started to punch her. One of them got a good right cross in and she fell back down on all fours.

"That's enough, get him. Pick up everything he has and bring it along."

One of the men followed his instructions, the other saw that she was on all fours. He stood next to her and kicked her, it hit her in the head. The blow sent her flat on her back, the world slowly darkened. 

"Gillian?"

She slowly opened her eyes; Pete was looking down at her. "Are you all right?"

She realized that she was flat on her back. "What happened?"

Pete helped her sit up. "That's what I was going to ask you."

Gillian opened her hand and saw that the knife was still there. "I saw everything Pete, through Mac's eyes, I was him."

"What did you see?"

Her insides felt like gelatin, it was the most powerful vision she had ever experienced. "It _was_ Indians, four of them."

Pete helped her stand, her knees felt like rubber and she was very grateful he still had a hold of her arm. "Should we tell the Sheriff?"

"We can't, he would never believe me."

"Do you know where he is?"

Gillian nodded, she was rubbing her arms, still feeling the affects of the vision. She also felt like she had been beaten up, her face hurt and so did her head from that kick. "Yeah I know where he is and I'm going to go get him."

"We'll both go."

She shook her head. "No Pete I need you to go back to camp and be in charge of it until I get back."

Pete's face grew angry. "No! I'm not going to let you go off by yourself!"

Gillian realized that Pete was just as scared as she was and wanted MacGyver back just as much. She reached down and took his hand. "I'm sorry Pete, I just want him back."

Pete sighed and squeezed her hand. "So do I, any idea of how we are going to do that?"

Gillian shrugged. "Well as Mac would say, just give me time to think."

Time was something that MacGyver was all too aware of, he was chained to a wall in an old prison cell that looked to be something out of the 1800s. The floor was made of dirt and there were wall shackles all around it. The cell door was made of metal, it opened and the 4 men all walked in and saw that he was awake. 

"Well how are you enjoying your accommodations?" It was the man that was wearing the sunglasses, they were off now and Mac could see his face. He had very typical Indian features, high cheekbones, full lips, coal black eyes, his head slightly raised with a look of pride and determination on his face.

MacGyver shrugged. "I'm not, where did you find this place an old Western?"

One of his friends backhanded MacGyver and he was slammed back against the wall. He slid down it but his wrist shackles prevented him from hitting the ground. He shook his head out a little and stood back up. This made the man laugh.

"Tough aren't you? My name is Robert Running Wolf and to answer your question, this place used to be the prison cell for this fort. It was the only thing we kept around, now we use it for people like you, people that try and steal from us."

MacGyver shook his head. "I'm not trying to steal from you."

That earned him another backhanding, that time it was much harder. His nose was bleeding and he hung from his shackles. Robert walked over to him and grabbed Mac by his hair, lifting his head back. "Oh yes you are, that land you and your friends are on belongs to my people."

Mac was fighting to stay awake, his head had slammed up against the wall both times he had been hit and Robert's face was growing dim. "That's not what we were told."

"I don't _care_ what you were told White Eyes, that land is ours!" 

Robert dropped his head and walked away from him. "If your friends aren't gone by the dawn, you are just going to become another unfortunate victim of the desert. See a lot of people disappear without a trace out here and no one ever sees them again."

Robert and his friends left the cell and the metal door was locked behind them. Mac lifted his head and wiped the blood from his nose. He wondered if he was ever going to get out of there.

Gillian and Pete were in the little black Jeep, racing along the sand dunes and thick mesquite bushes; she was driving and knew exactly where to go. They drove out at least 15 miles; the place she took them was just past the Indian community the Sheriff had told them about. They came to what looked like a military base; there were some little ramshackle buildings that formed a square, surrounding an old stone building. Gillian parked the Jeep on the hill overlooking it. She got out and looked down over it, keeping low.

"See that stone building in the middle?"

Pete got down and peeked over the embankment. "Yeah I see it."

"That's where Mac is."

"How do you know that?"

"I can see him; I still have his knife remember?"

Pete nodded. "So what do we do?"

Gillian took the knife out of her pocket and opened the long blade. "Jailbreak, wait here and I'll bring Mac back."

"You just be careful okay?"

"I will."

Gillian made her way over the embankment and down the hill. The little beige buildings were all dark except for one. She figured that gave her free access to the place, but she couldn't simply waltz in and grab MacGyver. She checked to make sure the coast was clear. The night was cool and a slight breeze was blowing as she made her way from building to building, getting closer and closer to the one in the center. There was a rain barrel right outside it, she crouched behind it. She carefully peeked her head around it and looked at the building with the lights on. There was some noise coming from it, she duck walked over to the metal door and stuck the long blade in. She gave it a few twists and the old lock clicked. Gillian opened the door went in and closed it, she heard the sound of another door opening and the noise level increased. Her heart started racing in her chest. She quickly stuck the long blade back in the keyhole and locked the door. The footsteps came up to the other side of the door, and she held her breath. The door was tried and when it was clearly locked the footsteps grew fainter. Gillian peeked in the keyhole, she saw a man go back inside the other building and close the door. She exhaled loudly and turned around; she took a small flashlight out of her pocket and turned it on.

"Mac?"

Her light caught the form of someone hanging from the wall; Gillian stood up and went over to it. It was MacGyver and she gently lifted his head. She saw the marks on his face and the dried blood under his nose.

"Mac?" She touched his face and his eyes opened.

"Gillian?"

The sound of her name made the young woman smile. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, can you get me out of these things?"

Gillian opened his knife and stuck the short blade into the old-fashioned wrist shackle, the two ends popped open. As soon as his wrists were free she threw her arms around him. He gave her a hug back, he was very glad to see her. "Come on, let's get out of here."

MacGyver took her by the hand and they walked across the cell to the metal door, she handed him his knife. "Where did you find this?"

"Under one of the vans, that's how I was able to find out where you were."

Mac opened his knife and picked the lock with it; he closed it and stuck it in his shorts pocket. He carefully opened the metal door and much to his dismay he saw two shotguns pointing at them. Robert was smiling like a Cheshire cat; he saw Gillian and that smile grew even wider.

"Well it looks like we have an uninvited guest, are you going to introduce us to this beautiful lady?"

MacGyver closed his eyes briefly. "Robert Running Wolf this is Gillian MacKenzie."

Robert smiled. "A pleasure."

Gillian was not at all happy, she was scowling. "Not for me."

That remark made Robert laugh; he saw that they were holding hands. "She's quite a pistol; I like that, a strong willed woman." He tried to touch her face but she pulled away and glared at him.

Robert sighed. "All right then, let's take our guests inside."

The two men with shotguns motioned towards the brightly lit building and the couple had no choice but to follow. The inside had a big wooden desk, a small table with chairs, and a plain brown couch. The floor was made of wood and creaked as they walked. Robert sat behind the desk and put his feet up on it.

"So Gillian, what is your little role in all of this?"

"I'm the leader of the excavation."

This made Robert's smile fade fast. "You are the leader? That makes you the reason all of those people are trespassing."

Gillian nodded. "Right, it was my idea to come here and I chose the spot to do the digging."

Robert got up and snapped his fingers. The two men grabbed MacGyver, he was forced to let go of her hand as they pulled him back. Robert started circling the young woman like a vulture. "You are the head thief then. You are the one whose idea it was to come and steal from my people's land."

"When I filed the papers to dig there they told me the land was abandoned."

"You lie! You _knew_ that was Osage land."

"I did not! If I had known that land belonged to somebody we would not be there. We are only there to learn about the past, the artifacts we find will teach us."

"And have you found any Indian artifacts?"

"Yes we have. The plan was to find them, study them and then turn them over to a museum. We aren't thieves Mr. Running Wolf, just archaeologists."

MacGyver nodded. "She's right we aren't there to steal. We honestly didn't know the land was spoken for."

Robert stopped walking; he was standing right in front of Gillian. "Well now you know, and now you are going to pay."

He snapped his fingers again and the two men that were holding MacGyver let go of him. The only other man in the room stood next to Gillian.

"A pity you were so cold to me Gillian, now your friend is going to have to pay for that too."

The two men started hitting MacGyver, Gillian went to help him but she was grabbed around her waist.

"_No! Stop it! Leave him alone!_"

She looked at Robert. "We can work this out please stop them!"

Robert only laughed at her and shook his head. "Stop them? What for? I'm enjoying this!"

The bigger of the two men had Mac up against the wall by his throat. He reached behind him and took out a big knife. Gillian saw this and her heart began to race, she was breathing very hard. She watched as he raised his arm, the knife gleaming in the light. Robert was smiling; he was having a very good time. Her heart was beating so hard she felt dizzy. 

MacGyver saw the knife; he also saw his predicament, with the big man's hand on his throat there was no place for him to go. Gillian could feel something in her mind snap, her blood began to boil. She gazed at the man holding his knife. MacGyver looked at Gillian; he wanted her to be the last thing he ever saw. The big man smiled wickedly and brought the knife down.

_"NOO!!!"_

MacGyver had closed his eyes at the last minute. He was expecting to feel the cold blade pierce his chest and feel his own warm blood spill out. He felt nothing and he slowly opened his eyes and quickly widened them. The knife was but a few inches from his chest, the man at the other end of it looked just as surprised as he did. Robert creased his brow.

"What are you waiting for Brody, do it!"

"I can't."

Robert walked over to him, he reached out and tried to touch the knife but something that felt like electricity zapped him. "What the hell?"

He turned around and saw that Gillian was staring at Brody, her eyes were intense and there was something terrifying about her gaze. The man that was holding her realized something was going on and he let go of her.

Brody saw her and pointed. "She's the one doing it!"

Robert shook his head. "Bull! Brody you don't have the guts to kill him!"

"I do too something is stopping me, I can't move my arm at all! It's like someone is holding it back!"

Gillian was extremely angry. "Get away from him!" Her voice was very cold and like stone.

MacGyver swallowed hard, he knew that Gillian _was_ the one doing it. "I think you guys better do as the lady says."

Gillian was walking towards them; the men could feel something in the air as she got closer. They all moved away, Brody was able to move his arm and he joined his friends. MacGyver was leaning against the wall; she reached out and touched his face gently. "Are you all right?"

He looked at her and nodded, he saw Brody coming at her, the knife high in the air again. "Gillian!"

She whipped around and Brody slammed into something that was not there and fell back against the floor, he dropped his knife. Gillian was breathing hard, she reached back and took Mac's hand, she turned around and faced him. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Definitely."

The door to the building burst open and a bunch of armed deputies flooded in.

"_FREEZE!__ Everyone get their hands up!_" 

Pete and Sheriff Kent walked in and Pete smiled when he saw his friend. "MacGyver!" They walked over to the couple and Kent put his pistol away.

"Pete! Where did you come from?"

"I was at the top of the hill. Gillian asked me to stay there while she went and got you, when I saw they had you guys I radioed the Sheriff." He saw his friend's face; he was a little beaten up. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live."

Gillian was trying to calm down, after a few deep breaths she was able to. "Pete I'm so glad to see you." She gave him a hug and he returned it. The three of them watched as Robert and his goons were arrested, MacGyver breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can we go home now?"

Gillian nodded. "Yes we can, if we hurry we can get some dinner."

Pete clapped his hands together. "Great! All this excitement has made me hungry."

It was a little before 10 o'clock and the couple was getting ready for bed. MacGyver had a few bruises on his face and body but other than that he was fine. He was sitting on the edge of the bed in just his sweat pants watching Gillian look over some artifacts.

"Gillian?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we should talk about what happened tonight."

She turned off the lighted magnifying glass and got up from her desk. She sat down beside him on the bed. "I don't know what happened, I honestly don't."

"You stopped him from stabbing me, like an invisible shield was holding it in place. You did that twice and you don't know how?"

Gillian rubbed her hands over her face. "I was watching them, they were hurting you and when I saw the knife I got scared and angry at the same time. Every cell in my body was screaming out that I had to do something to stop him. My heart started to beat hard and there was this rush I could feel in my blood. All of a sudden something inside of me just came out and grabbed his knife." 

MacGyver nodded. "Have you always been able to do this?" 

She shook her head slowly. "I've _never_ been able to do this."

"Then how did you do it?"

Gillian sighed. "When I was with Dr. Matney, he said that I had to be careful because sometimes extreme emotional states could inadvertently trigger my abilities. He said that anger was the biggest one I had to watch out for."

Mac nodded, he too sometimes had a temper especially when it came to Gillian. He was very protective of her. "I think I can understand that, I got into that fight with Michael when I felt he was a threat to you, that's what you did too only you didn't use your fists."

Gillian smiled and leaned her against his chest; she put her arms around his waist. MacGyver kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair. "Pete told me you were really upset."

"Yeah I was." She held him tighter against her.

"Why?"

Gillian lifted her head. "What do you mean why?" She let go of him and shook her head, she couldn't believe he was asking her this. She reached out and put her hands on either side of his face. "Don't you know how crazy I am about you?" Her thumbs were moving back and forth across his cheeks. "You were gone and the idea that I might not see you again…" Gillian let go of him and got up, she walked away, her back was too him. MacGyver got up, he was standing behind her. She was wearing a light blue tank top and he touched the back of her neck and kissed it. 

"I kept thinking about how both Pete and the Sheriff had told me to take the warning seriously, but I didn't listen, you could have been killed because of me."

Mac could feel her shoulders trembling, he could hear her sniffling. He put his arms around her, across her chest, he leaned forward, resting his chin on her right shoulder. "It's okay Gillian, it's over, and I'm back where I belong."

Gillian touched the hands that were around her, she sighed. The feel of him pressed against her made the pain of his disappearance start to fade. "I love you Mac, and if anything ever happened to you I wouldn't know what to do."

This bit of information made MacGyver smile; it gave him for the first time ever. The feeling that he was truly needed. It made him hold her tighter against him. "I love you too." He let go of her and turned her around to face him, he lifted her chin and gave her a wallop of a kiss.


End file.
